2010-08-23: Dogfights and Flashbangs
Category: Logs Summary: Memory tracks down and breaks up a dog fighting ring with a metahuman - or meta-pooch - twist, but gets in way over her head. Karolina Dean and Whisper happen by and help out. Location: Somewhere in New York City Participants: Memory, Karolina Dean, Whisper Rating: PG-13 for pooch violence =Character Descriptions= Andrea Tellierra Tall for a woman but not towering, there is a solidity about her that draws the attention. Broad shouldered with a decent hourglass figure, she has visible musculature that does not detract from her feminine beauty and curves. Mid-back length raven hair tumbles down to frame her face while swept well clear, leaving her dark slightly almond-shaped eyes unobstructed, peering out of a oval face with a strong jaw, high cheekbones, full lips and a pert nose. Her skin tone is a darker golden shade, the sort that speaks of countless hours under the sun. She does not seem to have bothered with much in the way of cosmetics, perhaps merely a shaded lipstick and some eye liner. Her voice is clear, a rich soprano with just a hint of Southern California to her accent. Her movements are confident and strong, a sort of unconscious grace. She is currently dressed simply and casually, a pair of hip-hugging low-cut faded blue denim jeans with a simple brown leather belt, paired with a stomach-baring crimson t-shirt, emphasizing that flat, muscled abdomen and her small waist. Short modern hiking boots, well-worn but well cared for cover her feet, and a small kakhi canvas backpack dangles from one shoulder. Karolina At about 5'4", this young woman may be a minor set of contrasts upon herself. Her skin is nearly flawless, her eyes a bright blue, and her long blonde hair manages to frame her features in such a way as to suggest she's what most people would deem attractive in this modern age. And yet, there's a dissheveled look about her. Slight dirt here or there on her cheek, or her hands. Her clothes, too, look perhaps slightly unwashed, and well used from the armless yellow babydoll with the star in the midst of the modest curve of her breasts and the black-and-multi-colored armbands, to the hip-hugger almost retro jeans she wears, and the well-worn white tenni's on her feet. Still, despite her look of wear, she manages to usually hold a smile that touches her eyes upon her face and seems to hold the type of personality that finds something good in everything just by the way she carries herself. Memory Seventeen, with platinum blonde curls, Memory looks suspiciously look a young Marilyn Monroe. Of course, that's a young Marilyn Monroe wearing a white, three piece suit with matching fedora. And a domino mask. =Begin Scene= Here's the problem. Memory's been tracking down a dog fighting ring for months. These jerks take dogs, inject them full of various meta hormones, then let them loose on each other. Short story? Dogs with superhuman strength tearing each other to pieces. She's finally managed to pin them down. A dozen guys on the outskirts on the city in an abandoned factory, surrounding a pit dug into the floor. Two dogs, currently twice as big as they should be, ripping each other to shreds while the guys cheer each other on. Memory? She's so enraged by this little display she's breaking her own rules. Normally she investigates, then reports to the cops so they can deal with it. Today, she comes down from the ceiling with her boots full onto the back of one of the gambler's heads, knocking him to the floor. "This ends now." Memory growls. Abandon factories are a great place to find old copper wiring, and other metal. Which, Karolina can sell. For money. To get food with. She'd spotted the place awhile back, but only now had the courage to come and check it out for herself. However, this trip she notices all the cars about the abandoned facility, likely belonging to the betters and takers of the ring. Despite her better sense of judgement - and, likely due to some chats she's had recently and some outside influences, she decides to take a closer look around. She creeps around the outside of the warehouse, checking to see if there's anyone 'posted', to guard the gates, or anything. Back in civilian attire and civilian lands for the first time in almost ten years, Andrea is doing her best to keep a low profile, without actually hiding out somewhere and waiting for the other size-fifteen to drop. The raven-haired young woman is just walking down the street, past the abandoned factory, headed for a little hole in the wall diner where she can get some dinner. That is until she catches sight and sound of what is going on inside the factory, including the girl who just jumped on top of someone while all alone in the middle of ... that cannot be good. Words are muttered, censored from the dialog boxes by the Comics Code Authority. Nothing but her knife on her at the moment, and that not exactly her combat knife, she's not exactly equipped for combat. But nevertheless, she spot checks for lookouts, and starts stealthing her way towards the interior. She'll just have to find a likely candidate and relieve him of his toys. Hopefully before that girl gets fed to the rapid superpuppies. What is /up/ with that?! As she works her way in, she pauses in a shadow long enough to send out a burst transmission that will unspool as a dispatch call for NYPD assistance at this address. Just the other day, Memory promised Batman she only used her perfume in emergencies. Well, honestly? This is one. She dodges out of the way as a guy in a black tank top tries to take off her head with his fist, then lifts her hand and twists her wrist. Gas sprays out from the atomizer hidden up her sleeve. The guy falls to the ground and begins flailing, glubbing as if drowning... reliving a memory. Of course, as Karolina gets closer, she can hear the shouting, the animal noises, the growling - the mad cheering. None of it sounds all that good. She takes a deeeep breath, and then plunges in, hands shoved her in her pockets trying to look for all the world like she ought to belong --- when she sees what's going on. She catches a glimpse of the girl she saved from at least a broken leg, if not her life - nearly getting her face cut up, the monstrosity of the dogfights, but she never did see Andrea yet. Her senses aren't -that- good. It's likely enough Andrea saw -her- enter into the warehouse. Inside, there's a sudden -flare- of color unleashed, as if someone unlocked the aurora borealis, concentrated, right in this room - in girl shape. Two concussion blasts erupt from her hands, knocking the two that were running up behind Memory to conk her on the head flat on their perverbial butts. Karolina is mad - mad at everything, in a single moment, and she shouts, "I -told- you to be careful!" to Memory. Still tucked in that shadow, Andrea did indeed see the other girl slipping inside, and saw that lightshow. Whoa. Realizing that things are about to get even worse inside, she can no longer wait or take her time. She sprints at the guard nearby, glad that these sorts of goons get by more on being big and looking bad than actually being competent. A slide takes out his legs, an elbow to the forehead puts out his lights. Then his gun and clips are hers, and she uses them, clearing the slide and preparing to enter. Force breach? Start with a bang. One hand pokes around the corner, and then suddenly the aurora borealis is drowned out with a military-grade flashbang that erupts in the room, stunning, deafening and blinding anyone not prepared or resistant to the effects. And right behind that comes Andrea, pistol in a two-handed grip. A human special effect show just entered the building. One of Memory's minds, the one she has processing sensory information from the environment to work out potential threats notes it and thinks, "Pretty." Then the voice speaks. Her mind automatically matches the voice to the one she heard the other night, up on the rooftop. "Interesting." Then there's a big old FLASH of light and Memory's blind. She swears and falls. Into the pit. With the dogs. The flashbang causes Karolina to cover her own eyes; so, it's a two edged weapon. Sure, it gives Andrea an advantage, but nearly everyone else - including the 'good guys' risk getting blinded too. Karolina is among them. Luckily, solar radiation and the such -is- her friend, and she'll recover more quickly. Quickly enough to launch herself into the air, fly forwards, and wrap a forcefield bubble around Memory; one even supermutts will have a hard time penetrating. Of course, this means that Karolina is also a sitting duck, and unable at the moment to cover herself. "Get out. Hurry," she says, looking around, wildly. She's still quite new, to this whole heroing thing. The thunderous explosion of sound that went with that painfully brilliant flare of light did its work. Andrea's training tells her it's OK to blind civilians or allies in need of a rescue when entering a hot zone, so long as she and her team are clear. Unfortunately, she has no team. It's just Andrea. She saw the girl fall in, and the other one go after her. Grimacing, the raven-haired woman moves fast and hard, taking out ankles and knees on any goon still standing as she makes her way towards the pit. She doesn't want to kill anyone if she doesn't have to do it. But she will, without hesitation, if it's needed. Which is why she jumps to clear the distance and fires, pegging one of the super-mutts in the head as it rounded and charged Karolina. "Time to go!" she shouts. Of course, they may not hear her very well. Memory can't hear a word that Karolina, or anyone else, is saying, thanks to the flash bang. Fortunately, she can read lips. Unfortunately, her eyes are still flashing spots. Memory opens a third process, forces her eyes to focus despite the spots. Forces her ears to accept data despite her brain trying to shut them down due to overload. Its just in time to hear someone say "time to go". Which is just fine because the dogs are trying to break through the forcefield she's contained in. She stands up, pushing at the bubbletop. "Let me out, please!" Karolina manages to dodge a bullet sent up her way by seeing the man aiming the gun. "Crap! Get ready!" She lays down a few concussion blasts into the dog pit, before swooping down, and picking up Memory under the shoulders. She's headed straight for the door, carrying the other girl to safety as quickly as she can. She moves for the straightest path availible, a brilliant contrail of energy flowing out behind her, like some kind of comet-trail. Seeing the other woman moving, Andrea spins, trusting that she'll spot them in trouble before it's too awful, and covers their backs, firing shots once or twice more, taking out shooters just as they get their bearings and start aiming at the flashiest presence they can find. Once the other two are safely outside, Andrea turns and jogs for the door, wrapping light around herself to disappear from sight. She pauses on the other side of the door to wipe down the gun thoroughly, and then drops it as she makes her way out of the building, heading in the same general direction as that contrail. In the distance, she at least can pick out the approaching sirens. Looks like that police call worked. "That didn't go as planned." Memory mumbles. "Need to work on my emotion control." She resists the urge to rub her eyes and her ears. Right now, being carries as she is, Memory doesn't want to jostle her new friend and plummet to the ground below. Drifting a good distance away from the warehouse, Karolina will be easy for anyone to follow; her contrail doesn't lend itself to stealth, afterall. She sets Memory down, and sets down to the ground, herself, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" She accuses, sounding more angry, than anything. "You're -so- lucky I was there." Andrea does not fly. But she also does not run. Instead, she even takes a side trip into the parking lot to slice open tires, making sure to delay the departures of those inside for the police to have a fighting chance. It'll be a while before she shows up on that rooftop. But she did manage what she set out to do: that girl got out alive. Good thing the other one was there to help, though. Once Memory's on the ground she rubs at her eyes, as best as she can through her mask, and then at her ears. Its more a response to itching than a need to clear her vision and auditory senses. By now, her mental functions have overridden physical responses and restored her sensory abilities. "I am lucky. You're right. That was a dumb mistake to make." "Yeah," agrees, Karolina, "It -was-." She looks cross, "Do you have some kind of crazy death-wish, or something?" She wonders, at the other hero. She sighs, she's no good at this. "Just - think?" She pulls back her energy-infused multi-colored star-struck hair. "I'm very good at thinking." Memory points out, "That's actually my superpower. I just didn't use it this time. Those poor dogs..." She inhales, deeply, then releases it, "I need to shunt my emotional reactions to my fourth mental process, at least. So. Wow. Nifty powers." "Thanks," says Karolina, not really feeling 'nifty', just at this moment. "You were just lucky I was there. I thought it was - well, nevermind." She frowns some, "You okay?" She wonders, of Memory. "Do you need to go to the hospital?" It is at about this point that ears that are paying attention might pick up booted footsteps on the fire escape leading up to the rooftop of this building, plodding along steadily. "Company." Memory says. Her hearing isn't any better than a normal human's but she has a mental process focusing on it to a degree most humans are incapable of. She turns her head, looking towards the fire escape. "I'll be fine. Thank you." She whispers to Karolina. Karolina lifts up, slightly, into the air, ready to launch a few concussion blasts towards whoever is coming - but, she doesn't react, yet. For whatever reason, she feels it's her duty to protect Memory, here. The footsteps get closer. Closer. Closer. Then a strong feminine voice comments, "OK. So no making with the sparkly blast things, OK? I've had enough potshots in my direction for one evening." Then the footsteps continue, and a tall, raven-haired woman in civvies appears, and leg-overs the side of the rooftop to take a seat, hands clearly visible and empty, resting on the concrete. "You can relax. The cops showed up, they nabbed most of them. Helps that /someone/ slashed their tires to keep them from getting away." "Thank you." Memory responds, "Next time, please don't disable the rest of the group, okay? I'm Memory. This is..." She glances to Karolina, "... she hasn't told me her codename yet." Memory places a hand on Karolina's shoulder, then steps forward, "You both seem to have electromagnetic based powers, though. Very neat trick, making the flash and boom." That's partly because Karolina is still trying to figure out what her codename is. "Good," says Karolina, to the other. "Thanks for the assist," she agrees. She offers a hesitant sort of smile. The other woman merely shrugs. "They ... they called me Whisper." It's the truth, but hesitantly offered. Codename? What is going on here? How do either of these girls know that she created the flashbang? "You're welcome. Sorry for the discomfort. But that's the way I was trained to enter an out of control, hostile environment." It doesn't really explain things, though it would seem to imply military or police training. And she has the build for it, if not the attire. "Nomad would like you," Karolina decides of Whisper, if only for the girls willingness and bravery. She continues to hover in the air, "I'm just glad everyone got out safely." At least, in regards to the three gathered. "It's okay, I've done worse. Everyone is safe. And they've been caught, right? So it all worked out." Yeah. She's trying to see the positive side of things. Attire? Build? No, Memory pays attention to how Whisper stands. How she moves. The military leaves its mark on a person's body language. She files all that way, however, for now. Her eyes behind her domino mask are appraising, "Whisper. Not bad. I appreciate the assistance. My friend was chewing me out for jumping into that situation and she was right. I'm a detective, not a fighter." "Damned reckless, if you weren't prepared to handle the situation." Whisper comments, but with less bite and growl than she might have put behind it. "If you're not a fighter, you're an intel analyst. You should call in fire support, not try to take the hill yourself." Yes. A military turn of phrase, definitely. "It all worked out. But I wanted to be sure you were OK. I've never worked with another metahuman before." She couldn't be sure the other was alright without confirmation. That causes Karolina to half-smile, "Seems like there's plenty of us, here," she says, "In the city. Both good, and bad. So, watch your step." She looks at Memory, "That goes doubly for you." "I'm a detective." Memory says, firmly, to Whisper. "Not an analyst. There's a different. You're right, though. I should have had backup with me. Luckily, backup found me." She grins at Karolina and then at Whisper. "Thanks." To Whisper, they are the same thing. She nods to acknowledge the thanks. "Glad you're both alright, then." Plenty of other metahumans in the city? Probably true, from what Andrea has heard. But this is her first time in civilian lands, back in her own country, in ten years. A lot has likely changed. "I'll bet flying is really neat." Another hint, if her hard climb up wasn't proof: that's a trick she doesn't have. "It's -," there's a pause, "There's nothing like it," Karolina agrees, warmly towards Whisper, with a small note of exhalation. "Yes. It's - awesome." There's really no other accurate words to describe it. "I wouldn't trade it for the world." "I can't fly either." Memory notes, "Or shoot energy blasts. My powers are.. different than most." Very different. "I once calculated Pi to fifteen million places, though. That was a fun couple of months..." Whisper glances towards Memory with a look that pretty clearly says 'wow, you are weird'. "So, other than 'Light Show', do you have one of those fancy codenames yet?" she asks Karolina. The girl didn't answer, so she's betting not. Honestly, she's feeling uncomfortable, a little nervous. But she's not quite ready to just pack up and climb back down, trying to forget this ever happened. The pragmatic part of her feels like she should, but she isn't ready yet. "I'm still - figuring all this out," Karolina admits, to Whisper. "Right now, I'm just - helping where I need to help. Not really looking for trouble," she admits quietly. She shrugs a shoulder, but still remains hovering in the air. "So, no. Not really any fancy codenames. Not yet." A grin, "Taking suggestions, though?" "Rainbow Woman." Memory says, "You really shouldn't ask me. I'm bad with coming up with ideas." She pulls off her fedora and runs her fingers through a tangle of platinum blonde curls, "I should go but..." She pauses, then rattles off a string of numbers. "That number will put you in contact with me. If you need a detective. Either of you." "Asking a lot of most people's memories." Whisper comments with a shrug. But she doesn't ask for Memory to repeat the number. "I don't exactly have anything easy to reach me. But ... if you run into something like that again, hopefully you'll think to find some backup first." A few seconds later, and a vibration will begin somewhere on Memory's person. Someone just dialed the number she gave. To Karolina, she merely offers, "To tell you the truth, you remind me of a star. So I'd call you Starlight. But that's just me." "Starlight." Karolina considers the name, but really isn't committing to it. Still, it's better than anything she's come up by herself, for now. "Thanks." A grin, and she nods. "What she said. Maybe you should join the Justice League, or something? You could help them solve stuff, and then have the backup with you," she voices her own thoughts, as - odd as they may sound. "I don't think the Justice League are ready for me. Or vice versa. I'm still training." Memory says. She slides her hand inside her pocket and touches something inside, her eyes traveling towards Whisper. She nods, once. "And I should get going. I have to read the rest of Wikipedia tomorrow." "That sounds like your version of 'I need to do my hair'." Whisper comments, wryly, but she does offer a little smile to each of the others. "You two take care of yourselves. Good to meet you." Then she leg-overs and starts down the ladder. Just like that. So, about that diner and some dinner ... Watching Whisper go, Karolina isn't sure if she is impressed with the other woman or very put off by her. Still, she looks back to Memory, "Just - really. Be careful? Next time, someone might not be around," she points out. "Okay?" Yeah. She's honestly concerned. "I'm sure we'll see each other again." Memory promises to Whisper. Then she puts her hand on Karolina's shoulder and squeezes. "I promise. I'll be careful. Thank you. Again." Then she, too escapes down the fire escape. She'll have to hoof it back to where she stashed her bike.